This invention relates to substituted pyrrolidones and to their use in herbicidal formulations. In particular, this invention relates to substituted 1-phenyl pyrrolidones of the formula ##STR2## in which: R.sup.1 is a member selected from the group consisting of halogen, trifluoromethyl, cyano, CH.sub.3, CF.sub.2 CHF.sub.2, OCF.sub.2 CHF.sub.2, OCHF.sub.2, OCF.sub.3, SCH.sub.3, S(O)CH.sub.3, SO.sub.2 CH.sub.3, methoxyiminomethyl, methoxyimino-1-ethyl, benzoyloxyiminomethyl, benzoyloxyimino-1-ethyl, pyridyloxy, and pyridyloxy substituted with one or more members of the group consisting of halogen and trifluoromethyl;
R.sup.2 is a member selected from the group consisting of halogen, cyano, carboxy, carbalkoxy containing an alkyl group of 1 to 8 carbon atoms, and carbalkoxy containing an alkyl group of 1 to 8 carbon atoms substituted with a member selected from the group consisting of halogen, trifluoromethyl and phenyl; PA1 R.sup.3 selected from the group consisting of C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl and C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 alkenyl; PA1 X is a member selected from the group consisting of H and halogen; PA1 Y is a member selected from the group consisting of H and halogen; PA1 Z is a member selected from the group consisting of O and S; and
m and n are independently zero or 1.
The compounds of the present invention, as will be seen from the description and test data which follows, have utility as both pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides, against a wide range of plant species. The compounds are of particular interest when used in pre-emergence application.
The terms "herbicide" and "herbicidal" are used herein to denote the inhibitive control or modification of undesired plant growth. Inhibitive control and modification include all deviations from natural development such as, for example, total killing, growth retardation, defoliation, desiccation, regulation, stunting, tillering, stimulation, leaf burn, and dwarfing. The term "herbicidally effective amount" is used to denote any amount which achieves such control or modification when applied to the undesired plants themselves or to the area in which these plants are growing, The term "plants" is intended to include germinant seeds, emerging seedlings and established vegetation, including both roots and above-ground portions.